Shoe cleaning apparatus



Dec. 9, 1969 P. J. MOLENNON 3,482,272

sHoE CLEANING APPARATUS l Filed Nov. 29, 19e? s sheets-sheet@ lllllllllll IIII IIII'TI lill MI IIl-r m vIL'II I`| Paf f" d /Vcl @/7/10/7 ATTORNEYS Dec. 9, 1969 P. J. MOLENNON SHOE CLEANING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet Filed NOV. 29, 1967 me Qs ma INVENTOR 'e//f 4,/ /I/clew/fa/f ATTORNEYS Dec. 9, 1969 P. J. MCLENNN 3,482,272

SHOE CLEAN ING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 29, 1967 i 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,482,272 SHOE CLEANING APPARATUS Peter J. McLennon, 514 Linden Ave., Oak Park, Ill. 60302 Filed Nov. 29, 1967, Ser. No. 686,556 Int. Cl. A471 23/02 U.S. Cl. 15-36 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Automatic shoe cleaner for cleaning the bottoms of shoes comprising a plurality of brush bands or belts stretched between and around two rotatable cylindrical shafts and spaced along the shafts, with cylindrical support bars positioned between said belts in depressions in the shafts and having their ends pir'iioned in racks which are driven back and forth as the cylindrical shafts rotate. When in operation, a shoe placed on the cleaner will have its bottom frictionally cleaned by the belts and will remain stationary as the cleaner apparatus reciprocates by a rolling action of the rotating supporf'bars to expose all portions of the shoe bottom to the moving belt.

This invention relates to an automatic shoe cleaner, and more particularly to a shoe cleaning apparatus which may be placed near the door of the home or oice to speedily, thoroughly, and eiciently clean the undersides of the shoes of persons entering the home or oice.

Many automatic shoe cleaning devices have been constructed for cleaning the undersides of shoes. However, these devices have generally required effort by the user of the device in keeping his shoe positioned on the device, and they have generally involed rotating disks or large moving bands which rquire some form of suction device to keep down dust.

This invention is designed to overcome these limitations, and to provide a shoe cleaner which requires little effort by the user in keeping his shoe on the device, no motion being imparted to the users shoe, and which provides for the eflicient collection of dust and dirt without requiring any suction device.

An important feature of this invention relates to the provision of a plurality of continuous cleaning bands movable to frictionally clean the underside of shoes placed on the device. i

. Another important feature of this invention relates to the position of means for guiding the movement of the cleaning belt.

A further feature of this invention relates to the provision of support means for properly positioning a shoe on the shoe cleaner.

A still further feature of this invention relates to the position of means for driving the cleaning belts and moving the support bars for more eflicient cleaning of shoes placed in the cleaner.

This invention contemplates other objects, features and advantages which will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment and in which: Y

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a shoe cleaner constructed according to the principles of this invention, with a portion f the cover thereof broken away;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-section of a portion of the shoe cleaner of FIGURE 1, taken along the line II-II thereof;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-section of a portion of the shoe cleaner of FIGURE 1, taken along the line III-III thereof;

FIGURE 4 is a broken cross-section of a portion of ice the shoe cleaner of FIGURE 1, taken along the line IV-IV thereof; and

FIGURE 5 is a cross-section of a portion of the shoe cleaner of FIGURE 4, taken along the line V-V thereof.

Reference numeral 10 generally designates an auto- .matic shoe cleaner constructed according to the principles of this invention wherein a plurality of cleaning brush ybelts 11 are positioned alternately between a plurality of metal support bars 12 in such a manner that a shoe wearer may step upon the support bars 12, and the cleaning belts 11 will contact a portion of the underside of the wearers shoe. The cleaning belts 11 include base portions 11a with bristles 11b projecting therefrom and move longitudinally to frictionally clean the portions of the shoe bottoms and sides contacted by the bristles 11b. The support vbars 12 rotate to insure contact of the bristles 1lb with all portions of the shoe bottoms. Thus, the shoe cleaner 10 automatically cleans the undersides of shoes placed thereon.

A conventional electric motor, not shown in the figures, is connected to a drive shaft 13, shown broken away, to power the shoe cleaner 10. As shown in FIGURE 4, the shaft 13 is connected linearly to a smaller shaft 14, which has a splined section 15 comprising the center`t portion thereof. Shaft 14 is supported by ball bearing assemblies 16 and 17 securely fastened in support walls 18 and 19 respectively. Support walls 18 and 19 are firmly secured to a bottom plate 21, which extends under and supports the whole shoe cleaner assembly 10. A linear spline coupler 24, which allows linear movement of the adaptor relative to the splined section 15 of shaft 14 but maintains the angular relationship between shaft 14 and coupler 24, is attached by any suitable means to a cylinder 23 which is concentric to shaft 14.

The support wall 18 extends across the back of the shoe cleaner 10 and a support wall 26 is positioned in alignment with the support wall 19. A shaft or sleeve 27 is fixed in the support walls 18 and 26, A second cylinder 28 is suitably positioned on shaft 27 by means of bearings which allow rotational and linear motion of the cylinder 28 with respect to shaft 27. The continuous cleaning belts 11 extend tautly between the two cylinders 23 and 28, and are positioned in guide grooves 29 on the outer lateral surface thereof. The metal support bars 12 extend through semi-circularly shaped grooves 31, positioned alternately with the grooves 29 in the outer lateral surfaces of the cylinders 23 and 28. Unlike the shaft 14, the shaft 27 is not connected at either end to any other shaft, and the cylinder 28 is free to rotate with the cylinder 23 by means of the pulley action of the cleaning belts 11. Thus, as the shaft 13 is caused to rotate by the motor which is not shown, the shaft 14 causes the cylinder 23 to rotate and thereby pull the cleaning belts 11 and rotate the cylinder 28.

A bevelled gear 32 is attached to the end of shaft 14 and meshes with a bevelled gear 33 which is fastened securely on one end of a cylindrical shaft 34 held rotatably by means of two ball bearing assemblies 36 and 37 which are secured in support walls 38 and 39 respectively. .Support walls 38 and 39 are bolted on one end to'support wall 18, on the opposite end to a thin front casing 41 having a bottom bent portion 42 extending under plate 21, and on the bottom end to the plate 21 and the bottom portion 42 of casing 41. A cover portion 43 is also bolted to the front casing 41 and extends over the support walls 38 and-39 but is shown cut-away in FIGURE 1.

A crank assembly 45 is secured to the end of shaft 34 opposite the bevelled gear 33 and has a connecting rod 46 rotatably secured to a connecting assembly 47 which is bolted to the underside of a fiat metal support plate 48 positioned directly below the support bars 12,

Support plate 48 is rectangular in shape and extends under the support bars 12 throughout the entire center or cleaning area of the shoe cle-aner 10. Support plate 48 rests on and is secured to two support crossbeams 50 and 51 which are slidably mounted on two cylindrical support rods 52 and 53 secured in and extending between the back support wall 18 and the front support walls 19 and 26 respectively. Two angle irons 54 and 55 secure the overextending support plate 48 to the support crossbeams 50 and 51.

A plurality of cleaning belt guides 57 are provided having U-shaped cross-sections and are attached on either end thereof to guide angles 58, which are free to slide along the edge of support plate 48 and to -rest on the top thereof, each guide 57 parallel to and between two of the support bars 12, to guide the travel of the cleaning belts 11. The belt guides 57 are free to slide on the support plate 48 in a direction transverse to their longitudinal direction.

A pair of bars 60 and 61 are supported from the support plate 48 by means of bars 62 and extend along the sides of the housing of the cleaner. The bar 60 carries a rack 63 which is disposed opposite a rack 65 xedly supported from a bar 66 in a stationary position. A similar movable rack is carried by the bar 61 and is disposed opposite a stationary rack similar to rack 65. The opposite ends of the cylindrical support bars 12 carry pinions 67 meshed between racks 63 and 65 and the movable and fixed racks at the opposite end of the cleaner. A pair of bars 69 and 70 are carried by and journal the bars 12, just inside the pinions 67, and are interconnected by angle irons 71 and 72 to form a rectangular frame. The bar 69 xedly carries a pair of depending arms 73 and 74 which carry rollers 75 and 76 engaged in annular grooves 77 and 78 of the cylinder 23 and the bar 70 carried a similar pair of arms which carry rollers engaged in annular grooves of the cylinder 28.

The operation of the shoe cleaner will now be explained. The drive motor, which is not shown, may be turned on by means of a hand switch or by means of a switch located inside the shoe cleaner 10. In either case, when the drive motor is turned on, shaft 13 rotates to cause the cylinder 23 to rotate, thereby motivating the cleaning belts 11 which cause the cylinder 28 to rotate also. The bevelled gear 32 rotates to rotate the bevelled gear 33 and activate the crank assembly 45, which is connected to the support plate 48. Support plate 48 is thereby caused to move back and forth, riding on the support crossbeams 50 and 51 which are free to move on the support bars 52 and 53. Support frame 60, which is welded to the support plate 48, thereby moves back and forth to activate the racks 63 and 64 as well as the pinions 67 and 68 on the support bars 12. Support bars 12 thus roll back and forth, traversing approximately half the distance of the movement of the support plate 48, and the arms 73 and 74 together with the rollers 75 and 76 move the cylinder 23 axially back and forth, the cylinder 28 being moved in the same way. Thus, the support bars 12 and the cylinders 23 and 28 move back and forth together, as the cylinders 23 and 28 rotate. The cleaning belts 11 move back and forth with the cylinders 23 and 28, and the cleaning belt guides 57 are caused to slide back and forth on the support plate 48 by the movement of the support bars 12. Since the support table 48 is the only part placed in linear motion by the crank 45, movable rack 63 causes the support bar pinions 67 to move. However, the pinions 67 are forced to roll along the stationary rack 65. Thus, the support bars 12 are forced to roll on the sole of the shoe resting thereon while imparting no motion thereto. The shoe remains stationary while the support bars 12 roll underneath it to expose all areas of the shoe bottom to the cleaning belts 11.

It should be noted that a cover 80, much of which is shown cut away in FIGURE 2, extends over the back and side portions of the shoe `cleaner 10, and has a downwardly extending portion 181. A back wall 82 is connected to the bottom 21 by a hinge 83. The dirt which is cleaned ofi of the bottom of shoes by the belts 11 is collected in the encased center portion of the shoe cleaner, and may be removed by removing the cover and opening the hinged back 82. The dirt is not thrown out of the shoe cleaner 10, as often happens in centrifugal type shoe cleaners. veraf] It should be noted that the shoe cleaner 10 is particularly useful in hospitals and other places where cleanliness is highly desirable. The shoe cleaner 10 can be used for cleaning the shoes of surgeons and nurses outside the operating room, and also for cleaning the wheels of carts therein.

The support bars 12 are positioned close together in order to enable the shoe cleaner 10 to conveniently handle spike heeled shoes as well as normal shoes. The cleaning belts 11 extend slightly above the support bars 12 to enable spike heeled shoes to slide easily across them.

It will be understood that other modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of this invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In shoe cleaning apparatus, a stationary frame, a plurality of support bars supported from said frame in generally horizontal spaced relation and en'gageable With the underside of a shoe, cleaning means projecting upwardly between said support -bars to engage said underside of said shoe, lirst means for moving said cleaning means relative to said stationary frame in a horizontal direction parallel to said support bars, and second means for effecting reciprocable movement of said cleaning means relative to said stationary frame in a horizontal direction transverse to said bars.

2. In apparatus as defined in claim 1, third means for effecting reciprocable movement of said support bars relative to said stationary frame in a horizontal direction transverse to said bars and in unison with said reciproJ cable movement of said cleaning means.

3. In apparatus as defined in claim 2, fourth means for preventing said reciprocable movement of said support bars from effecting riciprocable movement of said shoe.

4. In apparatus as defined in clai-m 3, said bars having generally cylindrical surfaces for engaging said underside of said shoe, and said fourth means being arranged for allowing oscillatory rolling engagement between said generally cylindrical surfaces and said underside of said shoe in synchronism with said reciprocable movement of said bars.

`5. In apparatus as deiined in claim 4, said fourth means further comprising pinion means aixed to said bars, and stationary rack means supported from said stationary fra-me and meshed with said pinion means to eect reciprocable rotational movement of each of said bars about its axis and to insure said oscillatory rolling engagement between said generally cylindrical surfaces and said underside of said shoe.

6. In apparatus as defined in claim 1, said cleaning means comprising a plurality of endless cleaning belts having portions interposed between said bars, a pair of generally cylindrical rotatable supports about which said endless belts are entrained, means journaling said rotatable supports in spaced parallel generally horizontal axes transverse to said support bars, and drive means for rotating said rotatable supports, said second means comprising means for effecting reciprocable conjoint movement of said rotatable supports in axial directions.

7. In apparatus as delined in claim 6, third means for effective reciprocable movement of said support bars rela tive to said stationary frame in a horizontal direction transverse to said bars and in unison With said reciprocable movement of said rotatable supports.

8, In apparatus as dened in claim 7, said third means comprising a sub-frame supporting said support bars, and

means connected to said drive means for oscillating said sub-frame.

9. In apparatus as defined in claim 8', means interconnecting said sub-frame and said rotatable supports to effeet conjoint reciprocable movements thereof.

10. In apparatus as defined in claim 8, said bars having generally cylindrical surfaces for engaging said underside of said shoe, and means journalling said bars on said sub-fra-me for allowing oscillatory movement about the axes thereof.

11. In apparatus as dened in claim 10, pinion means aixed to said support bars, and stationary rack means t UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,567,832 12/1925 Broge 15-36 3,308,499 3/1967 Stiger 15-36 FOREIGN PATENTS 893,182 4/ 1962 Great Britain.

EDWARD L. ROBERTS, Primary Examiner 

